Inyeon: “What if this is a past life…?”

Culture

3 May

Words by Liv Franks

Why do some bodies feel known at the first touch? Whilst others are all right angles and hands that don’t fit. Why do people bounce into your life at one time and not another? The Korean concept of Inyeon has something to say about that.

Directly translated, Inyeon can be described as “providence” or “fate’” and has long been used to explain the layered history of human relationships but pinning down a binary definition defeats the foundation of the concept. 인 (in) refers to “direct cause” whereas 연 (yeon) refers to “indirect cause” and in Buddhism, the combination of the two provides an answer as to why things exist. There is no single reason but a multitude of equally poignant factors. There is no one reason why certain people meet in specific times and places but a combination of many.

Inyeon suggests we have been moving in long established patterns, not known to this lifetime’s mind, perhaps, but a well-trodden path, nonetheless. Pulled and pushed in directions by direct and indirect causes that may only sometimes be consciously realised. There’s an old wives tale that for two people to get married, it’s because they have 8,000 layers of Inyeon over the 8,000 lifetimes they’ve already experienced together in some way.

“Inyeon is a lesson in appreciation. Treasure each interaction. Don’t save up your smiles for those you love, but rather parcel them out like trees spread oxygen.”

Supporters of the dualism of emotion and reason may baulk their heads at the concept of past lives affecting the present day but beliefs surrounding transmigration suggest that the emotions, events and narratives of past lives are foundational in your disposition in this life. Even in subtle ways. Even if it’s the way you just do not like kiwi, no matter how hard you try—it’s just something inside you from long ago.

The concept of pre-destiny is prevalent across Eastern folklore. Inyeon’s equivalent, for instance, is mìng yùn in Mandarin, innen in Japanese and nhân duyên in Vietnamese. It is not merely a romantic concept. Inyeon deals with human relationships in all their forms but one of the favoured folklores is that of the grandmother spirit. She ties the end of a piece of red thread to the finger of each newborn, looping it through their life’s narrative arc, tying them to every person they’ll ever encounter, until the other end of the red thread settles upon the finger of the person they’ll love forever.

Except, it’s not a given that you will find your soulmate. Not if you take your eyes off the prize and take everyday interactions for granted. They are all necessary sign posts on the way, and to miss one because of a bad day, a bitter scoff, is to forgo your right to finding the one. So the story goes anyway.

This well-shared story encapsulates both romantic and platonic relationships, warning us to cherish them alike. The same red thread that binds you to the village butcher binds you to your soulmate.

A lesson in appreciation. Treasure each interaction. Don’t save up your smiles for those you love, but rather parcel them out like trees spread oxygen. Every stranger you meet, perhaps the person who lets you go in front at the supermarket, they are all attached to your red thread and are guiding you on your way.

Inyeon became somewhat of a buzzword in 2023, thanks to the acclaimed Celine Song film Past Lives. The central character, Nora (Greta Lee), is reunited with Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), her childhood sweetheart when he travels to New York - her new home with her husband. Despite the years of separation, they share an intense, and at times untranslatable, bond (or Inyeon) that has weathered geographic and temporal distance.

Celine Song described Inyeon as "something that you cannot stop from coming to you”. Regardless of what has gone before, Inyeon is on it’s steady journey towards you. So, aside from giving reason to those connections that feel known before you’ve even learnt their name, what else can we take from Inyeon into our own lives?

“Ultimately, Past Lives is a story about grace. It so easily could have become an embittered entanglement between three love rivals. Instead, imbued with the spirit of Inyeon, they respect that they are all connected by the same red thread.”

Life’s what ifs should never become deadweight around our midriffs. People come into your life, move the furniture around and leave without any apparent reason. They’ve picked up your red thread for that particular period but now it is time for them to carry on with their own journey towards obtaining Inyeon. The key isn’t to focus on the spot they used to sit in. It’s to live in your body as your body is right now, open to the next encounters just around the corner.

Past Lives’ finale depicts this with exquisite honesty. Nora bids Hae Sung farewell as he stands by the taxi, offering her a chance to re-do a life they were never able to experience together. But Nora does not indulge in the what if, she sends him home, only to collapse into her husband, Arthur’s (John Magaro) waiting arms.

Ultimately, Past Lives is a story about grace. It so easily could have become an embittered entanglement between three love rivals. Instead, imbued with the spirit of Inyeon, they respect that they are all connected by the same red thread. Whether this lifetime is your 5,000th together or you are meeting for the very first time, each bond is worthy of having held space in each other’s hearts. You don’t have to control a monopoly over someone else’s capacity to love to prove your connection has meant something.

In reality, in our era of data, photo albums and social media, our phones and back-up phones hold terabytes of memories that we can sift through and stare at. They bring the what ifs to your mind’s eye. We have the ability to go back and look at so many memories that we run the risk of being paralysed by them.

Instead, the practice of Inyeon asks you to hold those memories in your heart but move forward regardless. Your memories are to be carried lightly. Tread freely: it might just work in the next life, anyway.

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